


Keep in Mind, Stay in Touch

by prototyping



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Prompt Fill, Romance, Sorry Not Sorry, actual romance from me for once??, it's more of a snapshot than a full fic tbh, it's still pretty light tho, my usual formula of introducing some terrible foreshadowing partway through, nothing can ever be totally happy with me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 21:41:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9846710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prototyping/pseuds/prototyping
Summary: He knew what some people said about Aqua, too, and their relationship, but he'd discovered on day one that she could fend for herself. (But protective habits die hard.)AU Terra/Aqua. Ficlet for a friend.





	

Terra wasn’t sure what to expect. Aqua’s workspace was always crowded but organized, she carried a small purse of what he guessed were only the essentials, and her side of the table was always tidy when they went out to eat. The exception was her car, half of which she seemed to use as storage space judging by her crammed trunk and the miscellaneous boxes that had crowded the backseat for the last four months, but he was under the lifetime impression that messy cars were just a universal Girl Thing, anyway.

So as he walked up the short path to her townhouse suite with the intention of entering it for the first time, he had mixed impressions of what to anticipate. In the two years he had known her and the five months that they had been properly dating, he had only ever been as far as her dormitory living room back on campus, but that had been shared with two other girls. He’d never really seen any space that was _only_ Aqua’s. Now that he thought about it, it was a little strange that he couldn’t picture how she spent her evenings after winding down from her busy days. It had never come to mind.

He shoved his keys into his coat pocket and rapped lightly on the front door. It was a decent neighborhood, lined with buildings that were at least two decades old. A little rundown here and there, but holding up under time regardless. Glancing up and down the street as he waited, Terra couldn’t help noticing how blatantly his car stuck out. Most of those on the street were just as well-used as the buildings and probably just as old, Aqua’s included; in contrast, anyone who recognized the make and model of his own and could estimate the price tag would likely identify him as not being from around here.

He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. He knew the kinds of things that had been said behind his back at college -- the privileged rich kid of the university president, the daddy’s boy who had surely bought his grades as easily as he could throw money at anything else -- but he’d gotten too used to gossip in high school to let it bother him anymore. He knew what some people said about Aqua, too, and their relationship, but he’d discovered on day one that she could fend for herself.

Terra had been worried for Ven the most, afraid his little brother would take that kind of pettiness to heart, but his fears had been unfounded -- mostly. Ven had an uncanny talent for winning over just about anybody in less than a minute, possessing what Aqua called a golden personality. There were those who were immune to his charm, certainly, but Ven wasn’t the type to get walked on. He’d been in a few fistfights on school grounds in his lifetime, most of them undocumented, and even more off-campus. He didn’t need coddling like in elementary school. Like Aqua, he could handle himself -- and any insults directed at his family -- even if his rough and short-tempered tactics weren’t exactly ideal.

_Maybe I should’ve taken his car,_ Terra mused, returning to his initial thought. Well, there was nothing to be done about it now. And when the door opened a moment later, he forgot about it, anyway.

Aqua beamed up at him, immediately moving to embrace him tightly. “Terra!”

He smiled over her shoulder as he returned the gesture, glad for the warmth of her body against the winter’s cold at his back. “Don’t sound so surprised. I’m not that bad with directions.” She pulled back with a chuckle, but her hands remained on his shoulders as she seemed to study him. “What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. It’s just… felt longer than two weeks.”

Brushing her hair aside, Terra leaned forward to give her forehead a light kiss. She hummed warmly. “I know what you mean,” he sympathized.

Taking his hand, Aqua drew back and ushered him inside to close the door and lock out the chill. It was a cozy kind of warm that met him, and as Terra pulled off his jacket he gave the foyer-slash-living-room a cursory glance. Grey carpet accented with a burgundy rug between the couch and the coffee table, white walls decorated with soft drawings and bright paintings. A small couch, a small TV, books and mail piled up beside a steaming mug of what he knew had to be tea. Very normal -- and very Aqua.

“Did you find the hotel okay?” she asked.

“Yeah. Check-in went fine.” He paused, sniffing curiously at the air. “What’s that?”

Her smile quirked. “I know you can cook,” she assured him, “and as much as I like it when you help, I thought you might be tired from the trip. So I got a head-start on dinner.”

He wasn’t about to argue, but he wasn’t about to let her do everything now that he was here, either. As she led him around the corner and into the tiny kitchen, where the mingling scents grew strong enough for him to identify something Italian, he asked what he could help with. “The table still needs setting,” she told him, moving to the stove. “Plates are in the cabinet beside the fridge.”

“Got it.”

Aqua had managed her time expertly, as usual. In under five minutes everything was on the table, they were seated, and while it was most certainly a new thing to dine at _her_ place -- not her shared dorm, not a restaurant, not the picnic tables behind the library or any of their usual places -- it was all too familiar to be awkward. This was still casual conversation about work and friends and plans. This was still Aqua.

They talked about her new neighborhood, the upcoming job interviews Terra had been lucky enough to land, Aqua’s home-based jewelry-making business (which was taking off well, he was glad to hear), how their mutual friends were faring since their graduation, and every other update that came to mind.

“Sorry I missed the move-in,” he remarked, glancing around at the place again. “But it looks like you managed just fine without me.”

“We did,” she assured him with a smile. “Ven was a big help. But it’s fine, I know how important that trip was. How’d it go, by the way?”

“Good, I think.” Terra’s tone was casual, but he was more excited about it than he let on. Just in case the experience hadn’t been as positive as he thought, he didn’t want to get his hopes up too much. He was just one of dozens of qualified graduates seeking a place in the program. “I’m looking into backup plans just in case, but--” He laughed a bit sheepishly. “It’s kind of the dream scenario, you know? Getting in would mean opening a lot of doors for my career, but -- actually getting to work there, even as an intern? I want to go for the personal experience alone.”

Aqua hummed, looking pleased. She’d picked up on his passion on the subject. “What kind of work would you be doing?”

“Research. Mostly med lab stuff, but he mentioned they do a lot of psych evaluations, too.” Coming from a biochemistry background with several hundred hours of work experience in varying lab positions, Terra figured he had a lead over some of the other candidates, at least.

“I know you’d enjoy that,” Aqua chuckled. “What are they researching?”

“A lot of things, actually. But the professor I’d be working with is the head of the department on heart studies.”

“Hearts? You mean it’s a cardiology department?”

“Not exactly.” It had sounded strange to him at first, too, but the interview had explained it in a way that not only made sense, but also deeply piqued his interest. “Biology is a big part of it, but they’re also studying any relations or even correlations to the psychological sense. Emotion and memory, basically.” Noting Aqua’s expression, Terra scratched the back of his neck. “It was a long lecture, so I won’t bore you with it. But it sounds like it could be groundbreaking if they find what they’re looking for. And it’d be a great opportunity either way.”

She reached across the table to cover his hand. “It sounds like it. And I’m sure your chances of getting in are as good as anyone’s. How many spaces are they offering?”

“Just two,” said Terra, deflating every so slightly. “Xehanort said he prefers to focus on training two interns he’s sure he can trust, rather than dividing his time between a team.”

“Xehanort?”

“The professor in charge of the program.” Strange name, to be sure, but the elderly man had been polite, though sternly authoritative in his mannerisms, and certainly seemed to know his field. “The only thing is, if I did get it, it’s overseas,” Terra reminded her. “I could probably catch a plane on holiday weekends, but otherwise I’d be gone for most of the year, so…”

He felt her fingers tighten reassuringly around his. The light in Aqua’s smile hadn’t faded slightly, even at that news. “You’re somebody who’s going places, Terra. Sometimes literally.” She tilted her head, watching him fondly. “I’ve known that since I met you. Your career’s important to you -- and to me, too, as long as it makes you happy. Wherever we end up, and however long it takes, we’re still here for each other. We promised we’d make it through together, remember?”

That smile was contagious. Terra entwined their fingers, gripping back. “Yeah. We did.”

Aqua stood up and moved around the small table, where she leaned over to kiss his cheek. “If it’s what you want, then I really hope you get into this program,” she told him, lingering there to catch his eye. “And even if you don’t for some reason, I know you’ll find another one that’s just as great. But don’t worry about me. We’ll make it work.”

Terra knew how honest a person Aqua was, but right then her smile, her voice, her gentle eyes, the hand on his shoulder, everything about her in that moment convinced him all over again. She was the type to think of herself last, but it was clear she had no hidden misgivings about this matter. She trusted him to do what he thought was best.

With a small exhale of a laugh, Terra slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her onto his knees. “I know. You’re probably the last one I need to worry about,” he admitted.

She leaned forward to rest her forehead against his. “Hey, you should always worry a _little_ ,” she teased in mock-reprimand.

“Is that how this works?”

“Mm. Worry just enough to think about me, but not enough to come running all the time.”

“Right. That goes both ways, though,” he reminded her.

Catching his smirk, Aqua wrinkled her nose as she sat up. “Fair enough. Now come on -- let’s clean up and decide on a movie.”


End file.
